Dhani Jones

Dhani Jones, famed Cincinnati Bengals' linebacker and star of the Travel Channel's "Dhani Tackles the Globe," will speak at TEDxCincy this Thursday about his passion for sports and its ability to provide individuals with a common ground to communicate and understand each other across language and cultural barriers. Soapbox Managing Editor Sean Rhiney talked with him about his many passions from the environment to music, his new business venture, Bow Tie Cafe, and what he'd like to see more of as a cyclist in Cincinnati.

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Q: TEDxCincy's theme is "Passion: the energy behind life's most fearless pursuits." You pursue quite a few fearful things in your world: your day job involves bruising physicality and some of your other gigs like your Travel Channel show involves playing challenging sports you're not so familiar with.  So first, with regard to TEDxCincy's theme, what are you most passionate about? 

A: I think an overarching thought process for me is changing perception whether it's the perception about athletes as they play football or the perception of bow ties and what they truly represent or it's about a lifestyle that many people lead or it's about a mindset that people maintain.  Changing perception is a critical part of my thought process.

Q: What have you pursued lately that actually scared you?

A: Scared?  Besides "Dhani Tackles the Globe," every sport was a challenge -  I'm not sure it was necessarily a fear but it was a challenge.  I think my pursuits with Bow Ties for a Cause and seeing how that would be received and how many people I could actually reach.  To this day we're still growing in what we're trying to do - what we're trying to do is change the perception of the bow tie and allow people to understand the story behind why I wear it and why I want everyone else to wear it and the cause that's associated with it and the principles of self-representation, service, collaboration and thought - that are the four pillars of the bow tie - and what that represents not only for myself but what that represents for other people.

Q: You've been involved with Al Gore's climate change initiative and other environmental causes. Since TEDxCincy is about getting energized, what's the one thing you feel we can all do to make a difference with regard to the environment both globally and locally?

A: I think we can just be conscious of it - I think that's one major thing. I think a lot of people are 'unconscious' when it comes to their immediate surroundings so we say "hmm, it's hot today" but do we realize it's December 25th and five years ago it was thirty degrees and now today it's seventy five or eighty degrees and there is a heat wave coming through and they're more often than they were before. So be conscious of the amount of waste and the amount you splurge and protect the resources that you have. I think consciousness is a critical part of the climate project itself.

Q: Music is another of your passions. You've lived in Philadelphia, DC, and New York City, places renowned for their art and cultural offerings. What is it about music that energizes you, and how do you get your fill of great music here in Cincinnati?

A: I think music is everywhere. In Cincinnati whether that's the Aronoff Center or going to see a performance at the School for the Creative and Performing Arts, or just wandering through Fountain Square. Music energizes because music, I think, for some reason, I believe that it resonates with your body because your body is creating its own music and it creates sort of a symbiotic relationship and is able to take you to a multitude of levels dependent upon the type of music you listen to.

Q: You're well known as the 'thinking man's football player" for your diverse interests, intellectual pursuits and multiple passions. But no one typically singles out a CEO or other leader with this distinction, they just assume they're all 'thinking men and women.'  Do you think simply by association pro ball players get a bad rap? I bet some of the conversations you have in the locker room with teammates or on the field would surprise the casual fan.

A: There's a fair amount of players that are quite intelligent. To play the game of football you have to have some sort of wits, some sort of intelligence, some sort of wherewithal to compete and to understand what's being asked of you. Of course in any situation or business there's going to be those who have a little bit more or a little bit less. The stereotype is an overarching thought that most athletes don't have that and as they start to delve a little deeper into understanding the player and where they come from you'll find a lot of players have a far greater capacity of understanding and large intellectual capacity that is quite consistent with many players. People would be quite surprised in terms of the conversations that we have in the locker room, ranging from education to politics to religion to sports, the sky's the limit.

Q: You've traveled the globe pursuing insight into other cultures. Of all the things you've learned in your travels, what one thing do you find is universal among other countries and cultures or what one insight into another culture has changed you personally and professionally?

A: At the root of it all, we're all people. We have our own passion and pursuits but at the root of it all we're a collective and we play off of one another and we help each other grow -we help each other become better. And then, especially through sports, we're all competitive so there's always the pursuit of not doing what you just did but doing more of what you just did and doing it better than when you did it in the first place.

Q: Your teammate Chad Ochocinco made news for coming to a game in a 'batmobile,' but you're more apt to ride a bike to practice.   Cincinnati has a group of passionate cycling advocates, of which you're one, and we've made some progress in the past two years with sharrows, bike racks, etc.  What's one thing you'd like to see more of for you and your fellow cyclists?

A: Of course bike lanes would be amazing, bike racks would be phenomenal because if you want to encourage people to ride they need a place to place their bike. And of course there are some group rides, but I think group rides are something that really links people together and I think that motivates those that aren't necessarily motivated to do it by themselves but they can link together. Working out together, I see people run especially during lunch but I think riding, that would be an amazing opportunity for people to really bond together especially over distance. When you're running sometimes those are quite short-lived but when you're cycling sometimes those are 10, 20 miles and there is definitely time there where you can pedal and persuade, or cycle and converse.  I've talked to the people and done some stuff with Rails to Trails as we continue to convert some of the railroad tracks to bike trails. As people push and donate in that capacity in order for that to be accomplished that will be an amazing feat as well. 

Q: You've recently become a business owner in Cincinnati with the opening of the Bow Tie Café. You've also had conversations with some unlikely subjects on your In the Zone program: CEO's, businessmen, local leaders. What lessons have they imparted to you, and perhaps, what have you taught them?

A: I think the main lesson that I've learned is the lesson of patience. Everything that you want to happen or that you want to create or that you want to work towards -  you have to have patience. And I think collaboration - I think you're not able to do everything by yourself but it's always better to work with others who share the same vision. So patience, collaboration and to a larger part, a level of follow through. If you're going to do something it's important that you follow through and execute that which you've stated you will accomplish. It's like that statement, "under promise, over deliver."  I think the athletic world and the business world are quite similar. I think that's why a lot of players make such an easy transition into the corporate world because of that same sort of step by step following or that model of under promising, over delivering.

Q: I understand one of the unique features of Bow Tie Cafe is a floor to ceiling whiteboard designed to encourage conversation and collaboration. What one great idea or thought would you share on the board for your fellow Cincinnatians?

A: I could say "just because they're your neighbor doesn't mean that you know them, so walk across the street and find out something new." I think Cincinnati is an interesting town but I have found that there are many people that operate within the same circle that never have conversations with one another, therefore never really knowing each other and there are tremendous groups of people, tremendous people. And if one would just reach out to the next then there would be incredible levels of collaboration. Now there are incredible levels of collaboration, don't get me wrong, those do exist here but I think there can even be more.

As a Cafe we're hoping to continually link and bring those people together - that never met each other in the first place but now finally can. The principle of the Bow Tie Cafe is we encourage eavesdropping, we encourage collaboration, it's 'coffee, conversation, cocktails.'  We encourage people to get to know one another- those who haven't met each other before, those who haven't known each other before and maybe have found a new commonality, a new cause to link through and to bond and grow over…get to know your neighbor, go across the street and find out something you never knew. 

Even myself, I know a couple of my neighbors but as I push outside the envelope or push outside my comfort zone I get to know more surrounding people in the area. Even through the Bow Tie Cafe I get to know more people in Mt. Adams, and we find so many commonalities. And then sometimes we find 'uncommonalities' and then we have an interesting discussion point and that really links people together.

Find out more about TEDxCincy here.